Globe and lamp guard



Oct. 14, 1941. c. H. BAKER ETAL 2,259,237

GLOBE AND LAMP GUARD Filed June 29, 1940 a II 1 1 6 4/ 7i I1|! I 6 .4 6 W & 5 J 3. 5-? I 9 BY dMv ATTORNE Patented Oct. 14, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GLOBE AND LAMP GUARl'i Clifford H. Baker and Dana H. Fisher, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application June 29, 1940, Serial No. 343,242 4 Claims. (-01. 240-102) The object of the invention is to provide improvements in guards, or combined guards and reflectors, which may be employed for the protection of either or both lamps and globes, as

may be desired.

Another and more specific object is to provide in such a device the combination of a base element with a plurality of skeleton guard members, or combination of skeleton guard and re;

flector members, which are pivotally secured to said base element and inter-engage each other, Whether said members are two, three, four, or even more, in number.

A further object is to provide in such a device members, which are duplicates of one another and are, therefore, interchangeable, both with respect to their relative positions upon a given base element, or as to different bases.

Still another object is to provide in such a device one or more skeleton members, each of which comprises a central longitudinally extending bar} the outer end of which may be curved, and a plurality of laterally extending curved ribs integrally secured to and extending in substan-,.

tially parallel spaced relation from said bar, so

that the free end portions of the ribs of one member directly engage the bar of a complementary member, and the free end portions of one set of ribs of each bar being preferably integrally connected by an auxiliary longitudinally extending bar.

And a still further object is to provide a construction of this character, in which the auxiliary bar of each such member extends towards and directly engages the base element, or an extension of the same, for the purpose of bracing and making more rigid the guard structure as a whole, when in assembled operative form, it being understood that instead of providing dup1icate complementary members,. a modified form may be provided in which the free end portions of one members ribs are connected together upon both of the opposite sides of the central bar, while the ends of the corresponding ribs upon the opposite sides of the central bar of the other member are entirely free from connection With one another, while another modification comprises a ribbed guard member in combination with a substantially or entirely imperforate reflector member, said last-member being provided with a light-reflecting surface.

With the objects thus broadly yet briefly stated, the invention comprises further details of construction and operation, which are hereinafter fully brought out in the following description, when read in conjunction with the accom- Danying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a guard comprising one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same with a portion broken away to show the interlocking relationship of a rib of one guard member with the rib-and-barstructure of an opposed member; Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the same, showing the two members in open or extended relation, for the purpose of releasing the globe and/or the lamp; Fig. 5 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 2 but showing an improved guard of a shape adapted to so-called pear-shaped globes and/or lamps, and with the guard members shown also in extended dot-and-dash positions; Fig. 6 is an end elevational view of a slightly modified form of the improved guard, with one member in closed or operative position and the other in extended position; and Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view of a slightly modified form of guard interlock.

Referring to the drawing, the improved guard comprises an annular base element I, which is adapted to encircle any well-known type of electrical socket or receptacle (not shown), from which extends the lamp 2, while said base may also be provided with screw threads, bayonet lock, or other means for removably supporting a cylindrical globe 2a, a pear-shaped globe 2b, or in fact any other type of globe that may be desired for the purpose of protecting said lamp and its electrical contacts, for controlling the color of light emitted from such lamp, or for other-such purposes as may be desired. Said base is further provided upon its preferably dibers, each of which in turn comprises a longitudinally extending bar 5, pivotally connected at 6 to one of the lugs 3, and at its opposite free end being curved at 1, so as to meet the corresponding portion of the bar of the other of said members. Each bar is also provided upon its opposite sides with a plurality of oppositely extending arcuate ribs 8 and 8a, the ribs 8 upon one side of said bar being connected together by an auxiliary bar 9, While the ribs 8a upon the other side of said first bar float, or extend freely and unconnected to one another, butterminate closely adjacent to the auxiliary bar of the other of said members.

At its base end each of said auxiliary bars firmly engages one of the shoulders 4, when the device is in closed or operativeposition, while the opposite end 9a of such auxiliary bar is curved inwardly, so as to meet and integrally join at ID the adjacent end 1 of the longitudinal bar 5. The union of each of the first-mentioned set of ribs 8 with their connecting auxiliary bar 9 is preferably enlarged at H, and provided with an inwardly extending bore l2, into which normally projects the reduced end portion 13 of a preferably enlarged head 14, which characterizes the adjacent end of each of the opposed unconnected set of ribs of the other member. It will also be noted that each of the auxiliary bars 9 extends at l beyond its junction point ID with the curved end portion 1 of the longitudinal bar 5 to which it is connected, and is provided with an aperture [6 into which yieldingly extends in frictional engagement a lug 11, carried by the curved end portion 1 of the auxiliary bar of the other of said members.

With the improved guard in operative position, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, its respective members may be separated and angularlyshifted into the respective positions shown in Fig. 4, and as shown by the dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 5 of the modified shape of guard, necessary to house a pear-shaped or other type of globe 2b,

wherein the free end portion of such globe is of substantially larger diameter than its base portion, or that portion of the globe which cooperates with and is directly supported by the base I. With the guard members in the open positions shown, the globe alone or the globe and the enclosed lamp, may be removed and replaced at" will, after which the guardmembers are shifted into their adjacent operative positions hereinbefore described, wherein the reduced extensions I3 of one set of ribs enter the receiving bores l2 upon a rib of the opposite member adjacent thereto, while the lug I! of one member enters the restricted bore l6 of the other of said members, as clearly indicated in Figs. 2 and 3.

Referring to Fig. 6, a slightly modified form of the guard is shown as comprising a base I8, towhich is pivotally mounted one end of each of the guard members l9 and 2B. Said members in this case comprise longitudinal bars 2| and Ma and laterally oppositely extending arcuate ribs 22 and 22a, respectively, but in this case the ribs- 22:: carried by one of said bars2la extend freely and unconnectedly, while the ribs 22 carried by the other bar 2! are connected together by means of auxiliary bars 23, so that in this case the two members are not symmetrical or identical in shape, but as in the first case, are adapted to be normally secured in cooperative interlocking union by means of suitable locking means, represented by the terminal lugs 24, upon the ribs 22a and lugs 25 upon the transversely enlarged head 26 of the longitudinal rod Zia. Otherwise, the construction and-operation of this modified form of guard is the same as the one hereinbefore described.

Such guards as those herein described are par ticularly well adapted for the use hereinbefore mentioned, and it is to be understood that as long as they embody the broad principles set forth in the appended claims, any and all modifications of those described in detail may be made, without departing from the scope of th invention hereby sought to be covered and protected.

Referring to Fig. '7, a slightly modified form of interlock between two guard members, or between a guard member and a reflector member, is shown as comprisingdiametrically aligned ribs 21, from which extend angularly related ribs 28, corresponding with the ribs 9a and 1, respectively, of Fig. 3, each of said ribs 21 being provided with apertured extensions 29, through which frictionally extend lugs 30 carried by the adjacent portions of the respectively opposite ribs. The angular union between the ribs 21 and 28 of each pair meet along a diagonally extending surface, the opposite sides of which are provided with substantially aligned or at least overlapping recesses 3|, which are together adapted to receive the end portion of a screw driver or equivalent instrument, by means of which said guards, or guard and reflector members, can be readily pried apart.

Having thus described our invention, What we claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A guard, comprising a base, and a plurality of complementary members which are duplicates of one another and are pivotally connected to said base, interlocking means carried by freely extending portions of said members, a finger-like portion of each of said members, spaced from its pivotal connection with said base, being normally in binding engagement with said base, to prevent lateral vibration of said members when in operative interlocked relation, and male-and-female inter-engaging means carried by said members to insure their positive alignment independently of said interlocking means.

2. A guard, comprising a base, a pair of complementary members, each in turn comprising a central bar pivotally connected to said base and provided upon its opposite sides with substantially concentrically curved ribs, the ribs upon one and the same side of the respective rods being connected together by an auxiliary bar, the opposite ends of the ribs of each member being unconnected, male-and-female aligning means to yieldingly lock the free ends of the group of unconnected ribs upon one bar to the ends of the bar-connected ribs carried by the other bar.

3. A guard, comprising a base, a pair of complementary members, each in turn comprising a central bar pivotally, connected at one end to said base and the opposite ends of said bars being normally curved toward each other, each of said bars being provided with two oppositely disposed sets of curved ribs, the set of ribs upon one and the same side of each of the respective bars being connected to one another and to the curved end of the supporting bar by means of an auxiliary bar, the ends of the other set being unconnected, and independent means to align each of the free ends of the set of unconnected ribs of one bar with the respective bar-connected ribs carried by the other bar.

4. A guard, comprising a base, a pair of interchangeable complementary members, each in turn comprising a central bar pivotally connected at one end to said base and the opposite ends of said bars being normally curved toward each other, each of said bars being provided with two oppositely disposed sets of curved ribs, the set of ribs upon one and the same side of each of the respective bars being connected to one another and to the curved end of the supporting bar by means of an auxiliary bar, the ends of the other set being unconnected, and male-and-female means to yieldingly lock the free ends'bf the set of unconnected ribs of one bar with the bar-connected ribs carried by the other bar, and one end of each of said auxiliary bars being normally in firm engagement with said base spaced from its respective pivotally connected bar, to prevent lateral vibration of said members with respect thereto.

CLIFFORD H. BAKER. DANA H. FISHER 

